


Self-Actualization

by meetah12



Series: one soul split in twain [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Ableism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chloe KNOWS, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Michael is Disabled, Season 5 Trailer Spoilers Abound, Wings, both self-thought but more importantly used by the villain in this short fic, i haven't finished season 4 but nothing from there is REALLY in here anyways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25702804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meetah12/pseuds/meetah12
Summary: Michael was used to being confused for Lucifer. And so, when Chloe Decker called him out less than 45 hours after he had started his charade, Michael was more than shocked.A longer / less strictly formatted 5+1 fic featuring Michael sorta becoming okay with being his own person and relishing in the fact that these tiny lil humans can tell the difference between him and his brother.
Relationships: Chloe Decker & Michael, Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Michael & Ella Lopez, Michael & Humans
Series: one soul split in twain [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1864105
Comments: 11
Kudos: 278





	Self-Actualization

In the Silver City it was easy to tell the difference between the two of them. Despite their identical auras and ‘human’ guises, Lucifer and Michael’s wings were as different as night and day - literally. At the flutter of blackened primaries all of the angels knew that they were dealing with Michael. The radiant white wings that seemed to exude Light were always associated with Lucifer, on the other hand.

When Lucifer was kicked out, it became even easier to guess which of the twins you stumbled upon in the Silver City. Michael was used to the double-glances and the brief moments of pause before his fellow angels would address him. With the bright white bandages wrapping around his tattered right wing the pauses only grew longer as the angels had to recognize him and also be reminded of Lucifer’s actions.

The trouble arose, of course, when Michael’s wing never quite healed itself correctly. It was unsightly. For hours he would stare at it, mind broiling in righteous anger and rage at the disgusting limb that was now forever a reminder of what Lucifer had done to him and to the Silver City as a whole. He hated it. Michael felt sick with rage whenever he caught the ragged primaries in his peripherals. And then he would feel guilty for being so vain - though it wasn’t really vanity in his own mind.

The easiest course of action was to hide his wings away. With them both safely tucked away he wouldn’t have to see them and wouldn’t have to go down that same dark spiral. He’d have to endure some extra-long pauses and questions from other angels as to why he’d chosen to hide them, but certainly that was the better option.

When Lucifer finally returned to Hell after his longer than normal stint on Earth, Michael found himself considering everything that he had seen. This human woman had truly become attached to Lucifer, it seemed. She cried over him and said she _loved_ him. Michael scoffed, kicking his feet up on his desk as he thought over his newest plan.

… Surely it wouldn’t be awful if he just popped down for a bit? Finally get some use out of this ghostly face of his. It wasn’t like anyone would actually _notice_ that he wasn’t Lucifer - Michael had eons of experience with his own siblings mistaking the two of them. In all of Time the only being who had the ability to tell the two apart with one hundred percent accuracy was Father, and that was understandable - given, of course, that He was God and all that.

Well, Michael reasoned, he did have a few centuries of vacation time that had piled up. And nobody could fault him going down to ‘check in’ on their dear old brother Amenadiel.

* * *

Amenadiel had already been around when Michael and Samael had popped into existence. For an almost uncountable number of years they had known one another. Michael can remember when they were all still in the Silver City and how often Amenadiel would mix the two of them up. Half of their earliest jokes and ‘pranks’ revolved around tricking their older brother into believing he was talking to the other one.

“You’re here!?” Amenadiel asked, looking as shocked as Michael had ever seen him.

Michael hummed and gave a Lucifer-esque smile towards his eldest brother, “Yes, well, I got a bit bored so I thought I’d pop back up.”

Amenadiel said nothing, but Michael could see the frown pulling at the corners of his mouth. Good, it seemed like Amenadiel was still as incapable of telling the two angels apart, Michael reasoned as he quietly pilfered a drink off of a passing tray and took a sip. It had been quite a while since he’d partaken in human alcohol, but it burned pleasantly as it went down his throat.

“ _How_ are you here right now?” Amenadiel asked, eyeing Michael strangely.

“Oh come now Amenadiel,” Michael said flippantly, “I’ve already been down there fixing Hell up for about a thousand years - certainly the gates won’t _bust_ open when I’m gone for a minute.”

Amenadiel hummed but didn’t say anything else as Michael waved and sunk back into the crowd. He smiled into his glass as a young woman passed close by him - it seemed that Amenadiel, even after spending a fair amount of time with Lucifer recently, was still as incapable of telling the two apart. That boded well for anyone else from Lucifer’s life.

Hundreds of thousand of years together, and Amenadiel still couldn’t tell which twin he was speaking to. Pity, really. Some part of Michael twinged at that - he rolled his shoulders and took a large gulp of his drink to chase the feeling away.

* * *

It took Chloe Decker 43 hours, 15 minutes, and 42 seconds to accuse Michael of not being Lucifer. At first, he was so shocked that he couldn’t even refute her argument. He was dimly aware that he was looking at Detective Decker was shock written across his face and he knew that that was a very ‘not Lucifer’ expression.

“Who are you?” Chloe asked again, her gun pointed directly at Michael’s chest.

“Detective,” Michael said with a crooked smile, “Surely I wasn’t gone long enough for you to forget me so easily.”

His simulacrum of a heart was beating out of control in his chest for some reason. Chloe didn’t move the gun an inch and only seemed to get angrier at his response. Despite the clear stress she was under, Chloe’s hands were still and clearly ready at a moment’s notice to pull the trigger.

“Chloe,” Michael said again, “I know we’re all a bit nostalgic for the past, but surely you can’t be this intent on shooting me again?”

“You’re not Lucifer,” Chloe said firmly, hands surprisingly stable from where she was holding the gun with her finger ready to pull the trigger.

“And if I am Lucifer, you’re going to _kill me_. Over what? The theory that somehow I’m someone who looks exactly like Lucifer? Why would you even suggest such a thing?"

Chloe didn’t say anything, but Michael could sense some doubt pulling into her mind. He just needed to draw that doubt out - use that to get her to tell him what the problems with his acting were so he could correct it. If this human was somehow suspecting him there was no telling what sort of suspicions the others had - Amenadiel had known Lucifer and Michael for far longer than this little woman in front of him, after all.

“Detective,” Michael said, trying to make his voice soothing, “Put the gun down and we can talk about this.”

For a moment, Michael almost breathed a sigh of relief as Chloe’s gun lowered. Then, there was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot and a vague sense of pressure on his right thigh. He was so shocked that he couldn’t even react in a reasonable manner. For a moment the two were silent as Michael stood on the leg that should have a bullet hole in it and Chloe stared at him with something like triumph hiding behind the clear and palpable fear.

“You shot me,” Michael said, glancing down at his leg - he was aware that his Lucifer accent was slipping by the end, but by now his goose was already cooked, “You _actually_ shot me.”

“I shot Lucifer in that same leg and he got better,” Chloe said shortly, “And given that you didn’t even get a scratch on you I guess you’ll be fine.”

Michael was dimly aware of Chloe trying her best to distract him and extricate herself from this situation - she was inching closer to the elevator, eyes and gun still trained on him as she did so. His brain was working at a mile a minute - this human had been so sure of herself that she had actually _shot him_. Michael had never been shot at before. He let out a short laugh, aware of how Chloe startled at it.

“What clued you in?” Michael asked, stepping to place himself between the elevator door and Chloe before she could slip out of his sight.

This was an exhilarating feeling. Michael was aware dimly that he was likely raising every red flag that she had, what with his crazed smile and the way he was preventing her escape. He couldn’t quite find it in himself to care right now.

“What made you think I wasn’t Samael?” Michael clarified, taking a step closer and not realizing the name he had just slipped back into, “Did you get a glimpse of my wings some how? Or the distinct lack of scars on my back? Or maybe the rest of them told you they had their own concerns and that emboldened you to accuse me?”

“Your wings? Why would that-” Chloe cut herself off with a shake of her head, “It was- you act nothing like him! You don’t do _anything_ the same as Lucifer.”

“How intriguing,” Michael hummed, eyes alight with pure joy “I can see why Lucifer likes you so much.”

The ding of the elevator bell interrupted the two of them, and Michael glanced up just in time to see his aforementioned twin stepping off of the elevator and into the room. Chloe gasped and almost dropped her gun, seemingly torn between running to him and trying to get around Michael somehow.

 _Well, this had gone well,_ was the last thing Michael thought before Lucifer’s fist collided solidly with his face and sent him sprawling.

* * *

Michael had _somehow_ ended up roped in with Lucifer and Chloe’s newest case. They both argued that since he had started it it was only right that he would help the two of them out however he could.

Their definition of ‘help’ seemed to revolve around paperwork. It wasn’t that it was hard, really - in Heaven this was how he spent most of his time as well. And the presence of a computer made the work go by much quicker than he was used to. After only a few hours he had caught completely up and was out of work to do.

Michael had been given a phone for ‘emergencies’ (as if he couldn’t handle himself - he may be down a useable wing but he was still a Soldier of Heaven), and wasted the rest of the day fiddling with it and learning how to work everything. To the humans’ credit, it was a fairly straightforward device.

“Oh, nice, Lucifer got you a phone!”

Michael most certainly did _not_ jump as Ella Lopez seemingly appeared out of thin air and eyed his phone appreciatively.

“That man always gets the newest technology - mind if I take a look?” She asked, smiling brightly as Michael handed it over without a word, “Thanks!”

For a few minutes the two sat in companionable silence as Ella took stock of all of the features on his phone and then opened the camera.

“Oh, wow! This is almost as good of a quality as my DSLR,” She said, panning around the room with the camera and zooming in on things to test its capabilities, “Here, let’s try out the selfie mode!”

Before Michael could react, Ella was pointing the forward camera towards the both of them. She stuck out her tongue and motioned for Michael to pose, frozen with her tongue out and finger hovering over the capture button. Michael simply smiled in a slightly confused manner and Ella snapped the photo, quickly moving the phone to look at it.

“Awww, we look cute!” Ella said, smiling as she passed the phone to Michael and let him look over the photo.

He definitely looked more serious than Ella, but overall the quality _was_ quite nice. They’d definitely come a long way since Michael watched these humans struggling with daguerreotypes. 

* * *

Linda’s office was suffocating. The cheery little plants in their pots, the abstract artwork specifically built to influence people into ‘happier’ thoughts and get them to lower their guard, even the bright little windows - Michael hated every part of it.

 _Alright, first things first, we get you to a therapist_ , Lucifer had announced after a week of Michael moping about and doing whatever was asked of him, _I just so happen to know an excellent one._

Michael sighed inwardly as Linda stared at him for a bit too long. This was going to be an _awful_ hour - he could already tell. Even though this therapist had apparently seen Lucifer’s ‘devil face’ and been fine with it, seeing Lucifer’s identical twin was seemingly the breaking point for her.

“So, umm, Michael,” Linda finally began, “Lucifer told me that he suggested you come see me. Mind telling me why, in your own words?” 

Michael hummed and sank back into the couch. At least it was comfortable, even if he shuddered to think of how many humans had sat here and emptied their hearts out to this strange woman simply because she had a piece of paper framed on her wall.

“He seems to find me ‘morose’,” Michael said, shrugging, “My best guess is that he’s just tired of having me in his penthouse all day long. At least with this he gets rids of me for a couple of hours.”

“Certainly you don’t think Lucifer thinks so little of you?”

“I came down here from Heaven and pretended to be him. I tossed him out of the Silver City and condemned him to Hell. I made out with his girlfriend.”

Linda opened her mouth and then closed it again. She looked down at her notebook and Michael could hear her muttering to herself.

“…tossed him out of Heaven… of course it’s _that_ Michael…”

She shook her head and seemed to get herself out of her reverie.

“Sorry - anyways… Surely he must care for you to allow you to stay in his home?”

“He just wants to keep an eye on me. He said so himself,” Michael countered.

“Lucifer has a way of-”

“He doesn’t lie.”

Silence stretched between the two of them. Linda massaged the base of her nose and sighed. She wrote something else in her notebook and then looked back up at him.

“But you acknowledge that he leaves things out? Lucifer doesn’t believe in the concept of a ‘lie by omission’. So, is it _possible_ that keeping an eye on you is only one part of his reasons? Or perhaps he’s _worried_ about you, and so keeping an eye on you to make sure you’re okay?”

Michael stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, pondering Linda’s questions. The very concept was new- it had been eons since Lucifer had worried about him to his knowledge.

“I suppose your argument may hold some validity,” Michael sighed, refusing to look at Linda and see the encouraging smile that she had no doubt turned his way.

* * *

The sunlight filtering through the stained glass window cast its multicolored pattern across Michael’s face. The glimmering armor, the blade, the symmetrical wings - none of it was accurate in any sense of the word. He was vaguely aware of Chloe Decker finishing her conversation with the priest and stepping up next to him.

“Saint Michael,” Chloe read softly, “Guess that’s you, huh?”

Michael huffed out a laugh and glanced towards her.

“Not the most accurate stained glass I’ve ever seen,” Chloe continued.

Michael’s heart sunk - he was ready for Chloe to mention the wings. Instead, she looked over to him with a grin.

“You’re not a blonde, after all.”

“That is a surprisingly long-lasting belief that you humans hold,” Michael said, smiling, “They even depict Lucifer with blonde hair and blue eyes when they decide not to do a typical ‘Satan’.”

Another pair of footsteps approached. Michael and Chloe both turned and looked back at the Priest who was smiling at the two of them. He turned his gaze to the stained glass and hummed in thought.

“I’m not surprised you find yourself drawn to Saint Michael in particular,” The priest said, continuing before Michael could open his mouth, “Many consider him a patron of police officers - a protector, if you will.”

Michael could feel a blush going across his face as Chloe turned and looked back at the stained glass and then towards him, a thoughtful look on her face.

“I think the patron of _this_ particular detective might be someone else,” Michael said with the barest uptick at the corner of his mouth.

The priest looked between the two of them with a sort of bemused confusion as Chloe stifled a snort and shook her head.

* * *

Halloween was going to be a disaster. Michael grumbled as he buttoned up the suit to Lucifer’s precise instructions and ran a comb through his hair. It seemed enough time had passed after the whole ‘identity theft’ debacle for Lucifer to be fully ready to take advantage of his status as a twin.

“This is going to be infuriating all night long,” Michael said to Lucifer as the latter struggled to get the turtleneck over his head, “You do realize that everyone is going to be mistaking us for one another the entire time we are there, right?”

“Oh, come now, Mikey,” Lucifer said, happily ruffling his hair into a slightly messier mimicry of Michael’s usual hairdo, “They’ll learn quick enough.”

As they left and got into Lucifer’s car, Michael felt the slightly discomfort rise in him. He had spent eons trying _not_ to be a copy of his brother and now for one night they were going to encourage this sort of trickery. He wasn’t sure that he could handle it when everyone began calling him Lucifer all night long. When Lucifer had suggested this, part of Michael had agreed out of a sense of penance - he had already tried to fool everyone once before for a much more malicious reason. At least now this was all fun and games for everyone.

As they mingled into the party at the police station, Michael was forced to admit that this was _just_ as bad as he thought it would be. The double-glances and surprised looks were too reminiscent of Heaven right after the Fall and a number of humans had already referred to him as Lucifer. Linda’s helpful tips were currently the only thing holding him together as he smiled politely and excused himself from the current conversation. He eventually found himself on the outer fringe of the part and leaned against the wall with a sigh.

“Don’t tell me - this was Lucifer’s idea?” A voice said from beside him as Michael turned to see Ella Lopez looking at him with a grin.

“You-,” Michael started, trying his best to keep his emotions in check, “You weren’t fooled?”

“Oh, please,” Ella said with a wave of her hand, “I’ve met twins before. None of them are _truly_ identical, no matter how much it first appears so. There’s a bunch of differences between the two of you.”

“Examples?”

Ella turned and looked at him with a thoughtful eye. Michael tried not to shift under her gaze as she seemed to study every aspect of him.

“Well, for one, you hold yourself completely differently from Lucifer. Lucifer said you had an old wound on your right side?” Ella continued, overlooking the way that Michael tensed in barely constrained panic, “You seem to guard that side of you, almost like the muscles are tense there.

“Also, you walk differently. Lucifer is a ‘strut-er’ - he uses his long legs to his advantage. You’ve got a bit more of a restrained walk. Lucifer also likes to walk backwards or dance and other weird things like that. You’re always walking forwards at a specific pace.”

Michael let out a small laugh, trying not to let Ella see the surprise that he was feeling. Ella looked at him with a smile on her face but then slightly frowned, studying his face intently.

“Sorry,” Michael said with another little laugh, “It’s just - you’re one of the first person to ever argue that Lucifer and I aren’t entirely identical. Even - even our siblings sometimes get it wrong.”

“Damn dude,” Ella frowned, clasping a hand to his shoulder, “Well, clearly they don’t know either of you that well if they’re mixing you up like that.” 

“Yeah… I guess not.”

* * *

Michael stepped out of the car as Chloe did the same, frowning as he saw the crime scene before the both of them. He heard Dan call out and saw him start to head their way, and Michael was stricken with a slight sense of unease - Lucifer would be much more helpful in this situation but he was currently busy and asked Michael to go with Chloe as backup just in case.

“Lucifer too busy to come down here today?” Dan asked as he stopped in front of the both of them.

Michael was only slightly surprised that Daniel had recognized him so easily. It seemed that these humans had somehow become quite adept at telling the two of them apart, even when Lucifer started occasionally dressing differently to fool them.

“My brother is currently dealing with a family situation,” Michael explained shortly, “He said I should come along instead.”

“Hey man, the more the merrier,” Dan said with a small grin, “And besides, you’re much easier to deal with than Lucifer.”

“I get that often,” Michael joked, pleased when Dan and Chloe both grinned at his remark.

Something warm and pleasant hummed in his chest as he walked towards the body as Dan and Chloe chatted and followed closely behind him.

* * *

“Lucifer.”

Michael didn’t react at first - by now most of the humans and even Amenadiel had gotten better at getting their names right. And then the voice registered in his mind and Michael spun towards the voice, drink clutched tightly in his hand.

Gabriel was standing there, armor on and blade unsheathed.

“What are you doing down here?” Michael asked, his heart leaping into his throat.

“You have been absent from your duties for long enough,” Gabriel continued, glaring at Michael with absolute hatred and disgust, “Amenadiel may have allowed you to stay here on Earth, but Heaven’s patience is wearing thin.”

Michael opened his mouth to correct Gabriel’s assumption but before he could, Gabriel’s sword was pressed against his throat. Michael gulped, panic flaring deep in his belly.

“If you do not return to Hell within a week, I will come back down here and _drag_ you there.”

With a gust of wind, Gabriel was gone. Michael didn’t move for what felt like an hour. Then, he finished his drink and went upstairs to wait for Lucifer to return home.

* * *

“What?” Lucifer snarled, hellfire burning in his eyes.

“I believe I already explained it clearly enough,” Michael said with a frown.

Amenadiel hummed from his seat on the sofa next to Lucifer. The moment Michael had mentioned Gabriel, Lucifer had decided that Amenadiel should be here with them as they spoke. Chloe was on Lucifer’s other side, leaning against him with a slightly confused look on her face.

“So,” She started, “we’re talking about the Archangel Gabriel, I assume?”

“He’s a tiny little twerp,” Lucifer said, waving his hand, “How he grew the balls to hold a sword to my throat I’ll never know.”

“A lot has changed up there since you’ve been gone,” Amenadiel said softly.

“Technically he held a sword to _my_ throat, but your meaning is understood,” Michael sighed, “Gabriel isn’t the shrinking daisy you remember. He-”

The words caught in Michael’s throat. How could he explain that after his injury, Gabriel began to take over duties? How could he explain that he sat back and allowed Gabriel to grab power from underneath his feet?

“Gabriel has used these past eons to build his own power,” Amenadiel said, giving Michael a knowing look, “He is a powerful enemy, and one who won’t stop until he has gotten what he wants. You know how his powers work - he will drag every weakness out of you and use them to his advantage.”

“Like Uriel did,” Michael said, refusing to look at Lucifer as he flinched at the name.

“You think he will go after Chloe?” Lucifer growled.

“Almost positive of it. He preys on weakness, Lucifer. Like it or not, she is your biggest weakness,” Michael gave a small smile, “He probably doesn’t even have to use his powers to figure that one out.”

The entire room was silent. Lucifer tucked Chloe closer to his side and clenched his fist in his jeans.

“Chloe can go-” Lucifer began, frowning, “She can take Trixie and get out of town for a bit until this blows over.”

“Lucifer, I am _not_ leaving you,” Chloe said grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

“Besides, that’s a bad plan,” Amenadiel continued, “Chloe is safest here - there’s three resident angels (former and present) that can protect her. If she leaves town Gabriel will either follow her to choose someone else you care about.”

* * *

Gabriel hadn’t waited a week; only three days later Lucifer had come screeching into the parking lot of the Lux. He hadn’t even used the elevator, content instead to fly up to the balcony and slam the door open with enough strength to crack the glass.

Michael jumped at the sound and looked at Lucifer. From the look on his brother’s face, Michael immediately could guess what had happened. His brother stalked past him towards his bedroom.

“Contact Amenadiel,” Lucifer ordered, barely sparing him a glance, “All three of us are going there tonight.”

Pulling out his phone, Michael quickly shot Amenadiel a text and sat back on the couch with his head in his hands.

* * *

The moon hung high in the sky. If Michael wasn’t wearing a turtleneck and wasn’t a literal angel, the wind chill would make him shiver. They were high off of the ground. There was likely no one more cognizant of that fact that Chloe Decker, who was being held far too close to the edge of the parking deck that they were meeting on.

Gabriel let out a cruel laugh at some sarcastic comment that Lucifer had made. His (perfect) golden wings were out and on full display - so were Lucifer and Amenadiel’s. Michael was the only angel present too ashamed to bring them out, and he knew that Gabriel could sense that weakness. It was his specialty.

Michael could see the tightness at which he was holding Chloe Decker, and winced inside his mind at the thought of her human bones being squeezed so tightly.

“Let her go, Gabriel,” Lucifer said lowly, wings fully spread in an aggressive display.

“Or what?” Gabriel asked, smiling as he stepped closer to the edge and dangled one of his legs off of it, “You’ll kill me like you killed Uriel?”

Michael saw Lucifer flinch out of the corner of his eyes. Even Amenadiel gave a small wince at Gabriel’s words. A great sadness welled up in Michael and he briefly looked away.

“Gabriel,” Amenadiel chided, “Let Chloe go. She’s done nothing.”

“This is _war_ , Amenadiel,” Gabriel hissed, “And she is fraternizing with the enemy. She is the _only_ thing keeping Lucifer away from his God-given duty! All Lucifer has to do is _obey_ and his little human pet gets to live. Michael,” Gabriel turned to stare into Michael’s eyes, “You once said that we must be willing to do anything in order to win against Evil. Do you disagree now?”

Michael didn’t move - he couldn’t breathe. The panic was building up in him as he stepped forward towards Gabriel. For a moment, his words were bottled up inside of him. And then he looked at Chloe and steeled himself. He couldn’t be sure of what Michael from a few months back would do, but he knew what current him had to say.

“Gabriel, stand down.”

For a moment, nothing happened. And then Gabriel laughed.

“That’s funny, Michael,” He said with a glint in his eyes, “That you think you can order me around.”

“I am the Prince of the Archangels. You are under my rule,” Michael said loudly, trying his best to bluster through this fight.

“You’re nothing more than a crippled, pathetic reflection of your brighter twin,” Gabriel snapped, moving Chloe closer to the edge, “And you’d do well to remember that the next time you try to start a fight with me.”

Michael felt the breath knocked out of him. He could see Lucifer and Amenadiel bristling beside him - seemingly infuriated at Gabriel’s remark. And yet there was nothing the three of them could do. If they got any closer Gabriel would snap Chloe’s neck or throw her off of the building.

“My wing is of no concern to you,” Michael replied with a calmer voice than he thought he would have been able to muster, “And it doesn’t change the fact that I am your superior.”

“Of course you’re willing to go against Father for _him_ ,” Gabriel spat, “You’ve always trailed after Lucifer like a lost puppy.”

“This isn’t about Father, Gabe!” Michael yelled, clenching his fists in fury, “Father didn’t tell you to come down here and _kill her_.”

“He gave Lucifer the duty of watching over Hell! And you are enabling him during this- during his dereliction of duties. You are just as complicit in this as she is! You were always too soft on Lucifer - we all saw your fight and the way you pulled your sword swings against him. You let _him_ live - you couldn’t even injure him even as he sought to tear down everything Father and Mother built _together_.”

“Shut up, Gabriel,” Michael screamed, taking a step forward and trying to reign in his anger.

“That wing and your complete inability to find your blade after all of these years - it all comes down to your _weakness_ when it comes to Lucifer! Did you ever stop and consider that the reason your wound still hurts you is because Dad knows you don’t _deserve_ to be healed? Even Lucifer got his wings back! And you’re still stuck with your gimp wing even after centuries upon centuries.”

Michael could see Gabriel’s hands moving up to cup each side of Chloe’s head. He could see the next move he would make - in all of his years Michael had seen a number of necks snapped. It would kill her before any one of them could reach Gabriel to stop him or reach Chloe to heal her.

Rage - white, hot, burning rage rose up within him. Gabriel’s words from earlier floated in his head along with the new memories of Chloe and the other humans. Gabriel was going to _kill_ Chloe Decker. The same Chloe who can tell if she’s talking to Michael or Lucifer by the backs of their heads. The same Chloe who’s made Lucifer smile more in their short time together than Michael ever had back up in Heaven.

“Gabriel, _stop_ ,” Michael ordered, hands moving in a long forgotten movement.

He could feel the moment his wings burst out of his back. He could feel the familiar weight as it formed in his hand already burning with silver light. The power behind his words hadn’t been there for a long time - but now… Gabriel froze, body no longer obeying his own mind.

“Get away from her,” Michael continued, raising up his sword and pointing it at Gabriel, “Now.”

With a snarl, Gabriel reeled backwards and Chloe stumbled forwards. Lucifer was immediately by her side, comforting her and ensuring that she wasn’t harmed.

“Gabriel. You are going to return to Heaven,” Michael said, stepping closer, “And you are going to _stay there_ until I tell you you can leave. If I ever see you here again - if I ever see you menacing _any_ human I will show you exactly how little mercy you expect from the Soldier of God.”

A flash of golden light - and then Gabriel was gone. Michael deflated - his knees hit the ground and he was only vaguely aware of Amenadiel running up to him and crouching nearby. His blade was lying on the pavement in front of him, still cheerily burning with a flame older than time itself.

“-chael. Michael!” Amenadiel sounded panicked, “Michael, can you hear me?”

The ringing in his ears almost completely drowned him out, but Michael could vaguely understand what his brother was saying.

“Y-yeah,” He said, dimly aware of the fact that he was shaking.

Michael lifted his hand and studied it, watching how it shook in the air with detached interest. Before he could draw it closer, a hand grasped his own. He looked up and saw Lucifer looking down at him with teary eyes and a smile on his face.

“Not a bad parlor trick, Mikey,” Lucifer said, Chloe standing next to him and looking only a little worse for wear.

“Parlor trick,” Michael said with a disbelieving laugh, “Haven’t done that in a… very long time.”

“Well, I certainly remember the last time I saw _that_ sword,” Lucifer continued, glancing down at the blade, “It’s been a while.”

“That was the last time I saw it too,” Michael muttered, staring at it intensely as he sensed Lucifer’s meaningful look.

After a few moments of silence and heavy breathing, Michael began to struggle to his feet. Lucifer immediately tried to help, grabbing on to his right arm and pulling. Michael winced, expecting the typical burst of pain from any extreme movements on that side of him and was shocked when none came. After he was standing, Michael turned and looked at his wing.

Where it was once a mangled mess his wing now looked the same as it had the day he had come into creation. The huge, gaping, featherless hole was gone - in its place there were smooth, silky black primaries and downy feathers. The crooked arch of his wing was fixed as well. With barely a thought, Michael brought his wing around and clutched at it. There was no bolt of pain through his shoulder blades as the wing moved. He felt no resistance from that side’s muscles.

Before he could collapse into a pitiful pile, Lucifer had wrapped his arms around him and was holding him up.

“Woah there,” He warned, “Don’t tell me you’re going to faint on me, Michael.”

Michael laughed, barely aware of the tears that were streaming down his face as he hiccuped into Lucifer’s suit jacket. The entirety of the past few minutes were catching up to him, and fast. He barely felt his own legs give out as the darkness creeped into his vision and he began to slip into unconsciousness.

“And yeeeep. He has _definitely_ fainted.”

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow a tiny bit of plot made its way into this glorified 5+1 
> 
> I’m so sorry I did that to you Gabe I just didn’t feel like coming up with a different angel lmfao
> 
> Personal head canon as to “why can’t these cosmic powerful beings tell Michael and Lucifer apart without the wings??? Hasn’t it been at least uhhhh thousands of years” is that angels actually operate mostly on aura rather than seeing someone for what they look like. Luci and Mike’s auras are practically identical - comes from being literal identical twins down to the very fabric of the universe that stitched them together. Angels ain’t used to having to LOOK at someone to figure out who they are. Humans on the other hand just see two people who really look alike - and we’ve got some damn good practice dealing with twins and picking out the differences between them.
> 
> Also Chloe can tell the difference because she fucking loves Lucifer that’s just the facts
> 
> I am currently writing more in this ‘verse. This was fun and wow I love Michael. My Michael, not show Michael. IDK Show Michael yet.


End file.
